Czech Agency for Social Inclusion and Interior Ministry hold series of conferences for municipalities on supporting social integration

Today the sixth of nine conferences for municipal leaders on supporting social integration was held at the Prague Town Hall. The series is being organized by the Czech Agency for Social Inclusion in Roma Localities in collaboration with the Czech Interior Ministry.

Organizers are using the conferences to present a brand-new “Manual for Social Integration”. “We are focusing attention primarily on the social policy in place at municipal level. We recommend step by step how to proceed when collecting data, when planning social integration measures, and when coordinating and then financing such measures,” Czech Human Rights and Minorities Minister Michael Kocáb explained. “Often the most important thing is for a municipality to take the decision to act systematically to prevent social exclusion and to then follow up that decision with a professional approach,” added Agency Director Martin Šimáček. “The second half of the manual lists recommendations in all of the key areas: Education, employment, housing, security, and services.”

The manual offers proven practices on which municipal leaders can base their own, independent approaches, and also describes how the Agency can assist leaders with social exclusion. Currently the Agency is working in 15 micro-regions, municipalities, and towns.

The conferences respect the inter-ministerial approach which is the fundamental prerequisite for success in social inclusion. In addition to the organizers (the Agency and the Interior Ministry), leading staffers of the Education, Youth and Sport Ministry, the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, and the Regional Development Ministry also give presentations on their ministries’ policies and on specific measures supporting social inclusion, including subsidy options for municipalities. Non-profit organizations are represented by the People in Need organization, which also contributed to the development of the manual.

Schedule of conferences:

5.11.2009 Ústí n. Labem – Ústí region

9.11.2009 Liberec – Liberec region

12.11.2009 Plzeň – Plzeň and Karlovy Vary region

23.11.2009 Hradec Králové – Hradec Králové and Pardubice region

26.11.2009 České Budějovice – South Bohemian region and Vysočina

30.11.2009 Prague – Prague and Central Bohemian region

2.12.2009 Brno – South Moravian and Zlín region

8.12.2009 Olomouc – Olomouc region

9.12.2009 Ostrava – Moravia-Silesia region